There has been a global rise in domestic violence against women and girls during the Coronavirus lockdown, United Nation reports have revealed. Alithea Williams, SPUC Parliamentary and Campaign Research Officer said: “During a time of rising violence against women and girls, the Government has passed reckless abortion regulations which abandon women to DIY home abortion, with no safeguarding to protect them from coercion or abuse. The sad reality is that many women will now be coerced into abortion from an abusive partner.”
According to the report, for every three months of lockdown caused by COVID-19, an additional 15 million cases of violence against women and girls will occur around the globe. It was estimated that if the lockdown was to continue for six months, an additional 31 million cases of gender-based violence could occur.
The rise in domestic violence during the COVID-19 lockdown, has become increasingly evident as the UK’s largest domestic abuse charity, Refuge, has reported a 700% increase in activity on its helpline website during one single day. A separate helpline for perpetrators of domestic abuse seeking help to change their behaviour received 25% more calls after the start of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Abusive men having easy access to abortion drugs
In response to the Coronavirus lockdown measures, the UK government has permitted DIY home abortions. This involves women obtaining chemical abortion drugs over video call and being left to perform their own abortions at home without medical supervision or support. The woman will not have the opportunity to meet a doctor in person, and the abortion drugs will be delivered through the post.
SPUC have highlighted concerns regarding abusive men now having easy access to abortion drugs due to new home abortion measures.
Ms Williams said: “It is deplorable that during a time of rising domestic violence, the government have implemented reckless abortion regulations which put vulnerable women at greater risk of one of the very worst forms of domestic violence – being forced into an abortion.
“The 1967 Abortion Act is a bad law, but at least stipulations such as a woman seeing a doctor in the flesh provide some safeguards for vulnerable women. With the whole process being done remotely, the medical professional has no way of knowing who is really on the other end of the phone, if she is being coerced into an abortion, or if the abuser is in the room with her.
“Home abortions facilitate a serious form of domestic violence by opening the opportunity for unchecked coercion from abusive men and an opportunity for abusers to cover their tracks. The Government has handed vicious men the power to abuse women in one of the worst possible ways.”
SPUC has launched a major public health campaign, The Hidden Cost, which challenges the UK Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, to establish how DIY home abortions ensure women are not being coerced into an abortion.
Ms Williams added: “A WHO multi-country study of women’s health and domestic violence found that women with a history of intimate partner violence had increased odds of unintended pregnancy and almost three times the risk of abortion. The UK government’s permission for DIY home abortions throws women at risk to the wolves.”
More Information on SPUC’s public health campaign to protect women from DIY home abortions during the COVID-19 lockdown can be found here